Inflation needle storage device

ABSTRACT

An Inflation Needle Storage Device  10  to keep track of, protect and store sports ball inflation needles  14.  The Inflation Needle Storage Device  10  is made of resilient material with a rectangular base  18  and receiving holes  12  designed so that the stems of inflation needles  14  fit snugly inside each receiving hole  12  and are held in place by friction so that they can not fall out. The Inflation needle storage device  10  has a vertical hole  16  therein to thread an attachment device, such as a nail, chain, string or wire to attach the inflation needle storage device  10  to any convenient surface. The Inflation Needle Storage Device  10  provides an easy practical place to store inflation needles and it also saves money because the owner will not be purchasing inflation needles  14  simply because they cannot find the ones they have misplaced.

[0001] This invention is described in our Disclosure Document #476325 filed Jun. 29, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates in general to holding devices for inflation needles. More specifically, this invention relates to a portable inflation needle holder, which can be attached to an air pump, key chain, gym bag, backpack or belt loop.

[0003] Inflation needles are commonly needed around the home, school and gym for a variety of uses. Some of these uses are for inflation of footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, rugby balls, water polo balls, soccer balls and kick balls. Inflation needles are usually sold three to a package. Once the cardboard and plastic package is opened and the first needle is used, the other two quickly get misplaced. The first needle is often left attached to the pump and gets bent and is rendered useless. They usually snap into two pieces when you try to straighten them. The search for an inflation needle usually starts on the way out of the when the ball to be used in the game that day is discovered to be flat. After a mad dash through the house searching for those elusive inflation needles, the owner has to make a choice between a quick stop at the sporting goods store or playing with a flat ball.

[0004] Storage racks for some articles are also known, such as the racks described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,794 to Drower, or in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,700 to Crossen, Jr., or U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,365 to Henderson. These racks, however, are not suited to inflation needles, because inflation needles need to be attached to a specific convenient location at the choice of the user, which may be fixed or portable. Inflation needles on the garage wall will not help the sports enthusiast who discovers on the playing field that the game ball needs air. The above patents are rendered usless when portability is needed. The above patents are not suitable to house inflation needles because the needles would fall out if the patents were turned upside down. None of the above patents are portable and if they were, the objects in them would be lost or damaged in short order because the contents are not held in place by friction. Additionally, inflation needles stems are easily damaged, and none of the above holders would protect the stems by completely encasing them in material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The inflation needle storage holder of the present invention comprises one resilient rectangular base having one or more evenly spaced horizontal inflation needle receiving holes into said base adapted to frictionally hold one or more inflation needles and protect them from damage. The said horizontal receiving holes are smaller in diameter than the inflation needles and hold the inflation needles in place tightly enough that they cannot fall out. The inflation needles are accessed by pulling the stems out of their receiving holes and pushing them back into the receiving holes when finished, similar to a the way one uses an knife and sheath. The resilient rectangular base has a vertical hole therein to thread an attachment device such as nail, beaded chain, piece of wire or string to attach the holder to any convenient surface determined by the user, such as a wall, gym bag, air pump, backpack, locker or a key chain, providing an easy, practical place to store inflation needles so they are easily located when needed. The inflation needle storage holder is made of pliable material, such as rubber, plastic, cork, paper, foam rubber, but not limited to these materials. The inflation needle storage resilient base may be any shape: round, square, oval, trapezoidal or oblong.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are as follows:

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide convenient and reliable accessibility to inflation needles anywhere the user desires: home, school, park or sporting venue.

[0008] It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device, which is of simple, inexpensive construction.

[0009] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a storage device that helps prevent damage to inflation needles stems by surrounding them with resilient material.

[0010] A further object is to provide such a device with will greatly reduce loss of time and expense incurred from losing and misplacing inflation needles.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to provide a brand image to inflation needles by affixing a logo on exterior of resilient base.

[0012] Yet another object of the invention is to provide an inflation needle storage device which can be either permanently affixed to an object or portable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inflation needle storage device of this invention with inflation needles frictionally held in position.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a top plan view with two inflation needles held in place.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view with two inflation needles held in place.

[0016]FIG. 4. Is a side view of the inflation needle holding device.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the holding device without inflation needles.

[0018]FIG. 6 is an inflation needle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1-6, the inflation needle holder 10 of this invention comprising a resilient rectangular base 18. The resilient rectangular base 18 has from one to a plurality of inflation needle receiving holes 12 the diameters of which is smaller than the inflation needles 14, so that the inflation needle 14 is held in place by a constant retaining force and cannot fall out of the holder 10 and get lost. Inflation needles 14 must be inserted into the receiving hole 12 and removed by pulling the needle 14 out of the receiving hole 12. The inflation needle holder 10 has a vertical hole 16 through which a nail, chain, wire, or string can be used to attached needle holder 10 to a wall, gym bag, backpack, key ring, air pump, locker or any other location desired by the user. The inflation needle storage device can be manufactured from any convenient resilient material, such as ABS (Acrylonitryl-butadyene-styrene), rubber, polyethylene or polypropylene, foam rubber, cardboard or cork, but not limited to these. While the device shown has two receiving holes to hold inflation needles, the device could have from one to a plurality of inflation needle receiving holes.

[0020] Having thus described the invention, 

We claim:
 1. An inflation needle storage holder comprising a resilient rectangular base having one or more evenly spaced inflation needle stem receiving holes on the same plane extending horizontally into said resilient base, being completely circumvented between opposed first and second surfaces, creating a retaining force on said inflation needles.
 2. The holder of claim 1 in which said inflation needle stem receiving holes are of a smaller diameter than said inflation needle stems, sufficient to create a constant retaining force against said inflation needles to frictionally hold them in place.
 3. The holder of claim 1 in which the resilient rectangular base has a vertical hole therein, hanging means, which fit through said vertical hole to hang inflation needle holder.
 4. The holder of claim 1 whereby the rectangular resilient base may be any shape, round, trapezoidal, square, oval or oblong.
 5. The holder of claim 4 whereby resilient base has one or more evenly spaced inflation needle receiving holes on the same plane extending horizontally into said resilient base, being completely circumvented between opposed first and second surfaces, creating a retaining force on the inflation needles.
 6. The holder of claim 4 in which said inflation needle stem receiving holes are of a smaller diameter than said inflation needle stems, sufficient to create a constant retaining force against said inflation needles.
 7. The holder of claim 4 in which the round trapezoidal, square or oval or oblong resilient base has a vertical hole therein, hanging means which fit through said vertical hole to hang inflation needle holder. 